OVERVIEW

The faster the world's resources and available energy are consumed, the less time remains for our survival. Starting from this assumption, Environmental Physical Chemistry aims to reformulate the traditional concepts of classical thermodynamics and to provide the tools for the modeling of ecosystems and the determination of environmental sustainability indicators through an assessment of energy and entropic parameters that affect the non-equilibrium chemical processes.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims to provide students with the tools for ecosystem modeling and determination of environmental sustainability indicators but also to provide the ability to conduct group experiments in real application fields, draw up test reports on diagnostic activities in the environmental field, and present reports on selected topics. 

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The present Course aims to provide students with the new concepts of advanced thermodynamics, applied to complex systems, non-equilibrium processes, and irreversible transformations; that practically concern everything related to natural and anthropic chemical processes.
The course will lead the student to consider the environmental impact of human activities with new tools and new approaches; the ways to monitor, prevent, and correctly evaluate them according to sustainability criteria will be delivered.
The practical activities will allow students to become familiar (in compliance with the current safety regulations) with the most effective methods and procedures of environmental impact, management costs, and safety of workers and citizens.

TEACHING METHODS

The course consists of 32 hours of lectures and 26 hours of exercises, ranging from laboratory activities, seminars and workshops attendance with experts, and guided tours of industrial plants; also seminar activities, as part of the exam, are included. Attendance at practical exercises is mandatory, as per the Didactic Regulations. The organization and dates of the practical activities are directly communicated by the teacher at the beginning of the course.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The course program is divided into three sections.
In the first one, the "Tools" for the construction of advanced thermodynamics will be provided, starting from the concepts of Energy and Entropy of the First and Second Principles of Classical Thermodynamics, leading to the concepts of production and flow of Entropy as a function of time in open systems and irreversible processes (the formulation of the Fourth Law of Thermodynamics). 
In the second part, the "Models" for the treatment of emissions into atmospheres, water systems, and soils will be elaborated on, and the concepts of Emergy, Exergy, and the Indicators of Environmental Sustainability will be formulated.
In the third part, the different energy "Technologies", renewable and non-renewable, will be examined about consumption and needs, available reserves, and environmental costs. The concept of Circular Economy will also be discussed and the correct hierarchy of interventions for the prevention, reuse, recycling, recovery, and disposal of waste will be established.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

A basic reference text is not given because the topics covered throughout the course can be reported in various texts. Lecture notes can be considered sufficient for exam preparation.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

STEFANO ALBERTI (President)

FEDERICO LOCARDI

LESSONS

LESSONS START

see  https://chimica.unige.it/didattica/orari_SC

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The exam consists in an oral test divided into two sections: a seminar, where a topic among the practical activities carried out during the teaching is deepened, and a traditional oral examination, on specific questions related to the program.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

Details on how to prepare for the exam and on the degree of depth of each topic are provided during the lessons.

The assessment of the understanding of the topics covered and the student's preparation for passing the exam takes place through the active participation of the student in the exercises carried out in the classroom, in the practical exercises, laboratory or on the ground, and through an oral test carried out partly in seminar form on a topic agreed with the teacher and partly in traditional form on the topics covered during the lectures; this part aims to evaluate not only if the student has reached an adequate level of knowledge, but if he has acquired the ability to critically analyze an environmental problem such as those that have been proposed during the lectures.

Exam schedule